Pasado Y Presente Del “Diccionario De Construcción Y Regimen De La Lengua Castellana”

The vicissitudes of the Diccionario de construcción y régimen de la lengua castellana (DCR) constitutes an interesting chapter in the history of Spanish linguistics. Conceived in 1872 by Rufino José Cuervo (d.1911) and later continued, since 1949, by the Insitute Caro y Cuervo in Bogota, Colombia, this dictionary has as its goal the study, in an historical perspective, of words which in Spanish present certain syntactical pecularities, either by virtue of government or because of the particular constructions to which they give rise. The history of the elaboration of the DCR can be divided into two distinct periods: an initial phase from its conception to 1896, and the phase of continuation from then onwards.

The initial phase: Although Cuervo’s lexicographic preoccupations date from his youth, the DCR represents its major achievement. Work on it began in June 1872, with the collection of the material, namely, texts corresponding to all periods of the language. It is not clear when exactly the actual compilation of the dictionary was begun, but 1879 appears to be the most likely date, i.e., three years prior to his arrival in Paris, where he put together and published the result of his labours. The first two (out of six projected) tomes appeared in 1886 (letters A and B) and in 1893 (letters C and D), respectively. By 1896, the work was interrupted, largely for financial reasons, despite efforts from Latin-American states during the last years of Cuervo’s life.

The period of continuation: Following an extended period of discussion, the Colombian government charges the Institute Caro y Cuervo (which had largely been created for that reason in 1942) to continue the project. In 1949, the work was begun, headed by the Colombian F. A. Martinez. Until 1972, he worked toward the completion of the work begun by Cuervo, including the publication of articles already written by the latter, on tome III. In 1959, 1961, and 1973, the first three fascicles of the volume appeared. Since then, and following the appointment of J. A. Porto Dapena in 1973, some twelve additional fascicles have been published, which have thus far brought Tome III near to completion.